04-06-2012, 12:00
online listen
not much here for me
expected better based on the last
if I could only lower my expectations
go in thinking this is gonna suck
1.5 from me and a converted 2.1 from the pros at allmusic
from the album - Go Right Ahead
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6NQx2R4jO7I
released June 5th, 2012
![[Image: 220px-Lex_Hives.jpeg]](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/ea/Lex_Hives.jpeg/220px-Lex_Hives.jpeg)
Bio - from allmusic
Eight years into their career, the Hives rose from garage rock stalwarts to one of the trendiest bands of the early
2000s, along with the Strokes and the White Stripes. Mixing arty contrivances such as a strict black-and-white dress
code and the guidance of a (possibly imaginary) Svengali named Randy Fitzsimmons with Stooges-inspired rock, the
Hives -- Nicholaus Arson, Chris Dangerous, Dr. Matt Destruction, Vigilante Carlstroem, and Howlin' Pelle Almqvist --
formed in 1993 in Fagersta, Sweden, while they were still in their teens. After signing with a subsidiary of the
Burning Heart label in 1995, they released their debut EP, Oh Lord! When? How?, the following year. The group
switched to Burning Heart for their first full-length, Barely Legal, in 1997; that year they also embarked on their
first U.S. tour. After the release of 1998's A.K.A. I-D-I-O-T EP, changes in the band's management put things on
hold for a time. However, the Hives returned in 2000 with their second full-length album, Veni Vidi Vicious, which
featured the singles "Hate to Say I Told You So" and "Main Offender." The album, along with tours with the like-
minded International Noise Conspiracy and the Hellacopters, generated serious buzz around the group, leading to
praise from stars as diverse as Noel Gallagher and Courtney Love, and a deal with Alan McGee's Poptones label in
2001. Stateside, Gearhead Records reissued Barely Legal, A.K.A. I-D-I-O-T, and Hate to Say I Told You So. More
touring and the re-release of their singles in the U.K. culminated with the Top Ten debut of Your New Favourite
Band, a compilation of songs from their two previous albums and EPs, upon its release in spring 2002. That summer,
the Hives returned to the U.S. for another round of live dates before playing the Reading and Leeds festivals, among
others. The band spent most of 2003 in the studio and out of the limelight, but they returned with a vengeance in
2004: Your New Favourite Band was reissued in the States by Sire Records; Interscope released the Walk Idiot Walk
single and the Hives' third full-length, Tyrannosaurus Hives. Late in 2007, The Black and White Album, which
featured production work from the Neptunes, arrived. In 2012, after playing a series of secret shows in Stockholm,
the band released their fifth album, Lex Hives, on their own Disque Hives label.
Album Review - from allmusic
Five years is a long wait between albums for almost any artist, but especially for a band like the Hives, who seemed
to have such a tight grasp on who they are and what they do that they could practically churn out cartoonishly
catchy garage punk in their sleep. However, 2007's The Black and White Album, which found the band expanding its
sound and collaborating with Pharrell Williams, among others, was equally inspired and muddled, so it's not
surprising that the Hives took some time to retool following it. It also makes sense that Lex Hives, the band's
first self-released album, is by and large a return to form: the pounding toms that kick off the album's 66-second
opening blast, "Come On!," lets listeners know that driving snotty melodies home hard is priority number one, a
promise the band makes good on with "Go Right Ahead." the Hives may not be underdogs exactly, but there's a feeling
of something to prove here, as well as undercurrents of vengeance in several of these songs, most notably on the
loose 'n' shouty "Take Back the Toys," where Howlin' Pelle Almqvist snarls "I'll stick to pebbles and boulders and
blocks" with enough venom to make it a classic Hives kiss-off. On the bulk of Lex Hives, the band slyly borrows from
the past rather than trying to reinvent its sound. "I Want More" is a hybrid of AC/DC's "Back in Black" and Joan
Jett's "I Love Rock 'n' Roll" laced with plenty of the band's own smart-ass attitude; "Patrolling Days"' fiery
minor-key assault pledges allegiance to the Ramones; and the new wave sheen on "Wait a Minute" and the strangely
optimistic "1000 Answers" sounds more natural here than it did on The Black and White Album. At times, things
threaten to become a little too straightforward, but the mix of tracks like the gospel-tinged interlude "Without the
Money" and "These Spectacles Reveal the Nostalgics" -- perhaps the closest the band has ever come to sounding
bittersweet -- and typically blistering numbers such as "If I Had a Cent" prevents the album from becoming Hives-by
-numbers. All the Hives really need is energy and good songs, and they have enough of both on Lex Hives to bring
smiles to their fans' faces.
Track Listing
1. Come On!
2. Go Right Ahead
3. 1000 Answers
4. I Want More
5. Wait a Minute
6. Patrolling Days
7. Take Back the Toys
8. Without the Money
9. These Spectacles Reveal the Nostalgics
10. My Time Is Coming
11. If I Had a Cent
12. Midnight Shifter
not much here for me
expected better based on the last
if I could only lower my expectations
go in thinking this is gonna suck
1.5 from me and a converted 2.1 from the pros at allmusic
from the album - Go Right Ahead
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6NQx2R4jO7I
released June 5th, 2012
Bio - from allmusic
Eight years into their career, the Hives rose from garage rock stalwarts to one of the trendiest bands of the early
2000s, along with the Strokes and the White Stripes. Mixing arty contrivances such as a strict black-and-white dress
code and the guidance of a (possibly imaginary) Svengali named Randy Fitzsimmons with Stooges-inspired rock, the
Hives -- Nicholaus Arson, Chris Dangerous, Dr. Matt Destruction, Vigilante Carlstroem, and Howlin' Pelle Almqvist --
formed in 1993 in Fagersta, Sweden, while they were still in their teens. After signing with a subsidiary of the
Burning Heart label in 1995, they released their debut EP, Oh Lord! When? How?, the following year. The group
switched to Burning Heart for their first full-length, Barely Legal, in 1997; that year they also embarked on their
first U.S. tour. After the release of 1998's A.K.A. I-D-I-O-T EP, changes in the band's management put things on
hold for a time. However, the Hives returned in 2000 with their second full-length album, Veni Vidi Vicious, which
featured the singles "Hate to Say I Told You So" and "Main Offender." The album, along with tours with the like-
minded International Noise Conspiracy and the Hellacopters, generated serious buzz around the group, leading to
praise from stars as diverse as Noel Gallagher and Courtney Love, and a deal with Alan McGee's Poptones label in
2001. Stateside, Gearhead Records reissued Barely Legal, A.K.A. I-D-I-O-T, and Hate to Say I Told You So. More
touring and the re-release of their singles in the U.K. culminated with the Top Ten debut of Your New Favourite
Band, a compilation of songs from their two previous albums and EPs, upon its release in spring 2002. That summer,
the Hives returned to the U.S. for another round of live dates before playing the Reading and Leeds festivals, among
others. The band spent most of 2003 in the studio and out of the limelight, but they returned with a vengeance in
2004: Your New Favourite Band was reissued in the States by Sire Records; Interscope released the Walk Idiot Walk
single and the Hives' third full-length, Tyrannosaurus Hives. Late in 2007, The Black and White Album, which
featured production work from the Neptunes, arrived. In 2012, after playing a series of secret shows in Stockholm,
the band released their fifth album, Lex Hives, on their own Disque Hives label.
Album Review - from allmusic
Five years is a long wait between albums for almost any artist, but especially for a band like the Hives, who seemed
to have such a tight grasp on who they are and what they do that they could practically churn out cartoonishly
catchy garage punk in their sleep. However, 2007's The Black and White Album, which found the band expanding its
sound and collaborating with Pharrell Williams, among others, was equally inspired and muddled, so it's not
surprising that the Hives took some time to retool following it. It also makes sense that Lex Hives, the band's
first self-released album, is by and large a return to form: the pounding toms that kick off the album's 66-second
opening blast, "Come On!," lets listeners know that driving snotty melodies home hard is priority number one, a
promise the band makes good on with "Go Right Ahead." the Hives may not be underdogs exactly, but there's a feeling
of something to prove here, as well as undercurrents of vengeance in several of these songs, most notably on the
loose 'n' shouty "Take Back the Toys," where Howlin' Pelle Almqvist snarls "I'll stick to pebbles and boulders and
blocks" with enough venom to make it a classic Hives kiss-off. On the bulk of Lex Hives, the band slyly borrows from
the past rather than trying to reinvent its sound. "I Want More" is a hybrid of AC/DC's "Back in Black" and Joan
Jett's "I Love Rock 'n' Roll" laced with plenty of the band's own smart-ass attitude; "Patrolling Days"' fiery
minor-key assault pledges allegiance to the Ramones; and the new wave sheen on "Wait a Minute" and the strangely
optimistic "1000 Answers" sounds more natural here than it did on The Black and White Album. At times, things
threaten to become a little too straightforward, but the mix of tracks like the gospel-tinged interlude "Without the
Money" and "These Spectacles Reveal the Nostalgics" -- perhaps the closest the band has ever come to sounding
bittersweet -- and typically blistering numbers such as "If I Had a Cent" prevents the album from becoming Hives-by
-numbers. All the Hives really need is energy and good songs, and they have enough of both on Lex Hives to bring
smiles to their fans' faces.
Track Listing
1. Come On!
2. Go Right Ahead
3. 1000 Answers
4. I Want More
5. Wait a Minute
6. Patrolling Days
7. Take Back the Toys
8. Without the Money
9. These Spectacles Reveal the Nostalgics
10. My Time Is Coming
11. If I Had a Cent
12. Midnight Shifter
